


I'd Rather Burn

by WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken



Series: We either make it, or break it. [6]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Angst, Execution, Gen, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Middle Ages, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-18
Updated: 2019-10-18
Packaged: 2020-12-21 14:10:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21076178
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken/pseuds/WhyAreAllUsernamesTaken
Summary: And burn he did.But that was fine.As long as the rest were okay, he’d do anything.He’d rather burn than lose them.So to the stakes he went.





	I'd Rather Burn

**Author's Note:**

> I was listening to _Blackbriar - I'd Rather Burn_ and this happened.  
Not properly proof-read but it's five AM and this was written on complete impulse.

‘’This is your last chance to accept the proposed deal, boy’’ The man asked, not even bothering to stand up from his comfortable chair.

Nobility.

They were all the same.

Each and everyone of them thought that they were God themselves, that they had the power to decide everyone else’s life like they owned them. And partially they did. Society enabled them to physically own those who were of lower class, purely because wealth was divided so damn unfairly.

They were all assholes who got joy from manipulating others and the world, twisting anything remotely good into evil with their corrupted ways.

‘’I’d rather burn,’’ Jisung hissed back, ignoring the pain that came from his wrists that were tied behind the pole.

The man let out a sigh and waved his hand, ‘’So be it,’’

And Jisung wasn’t scared by the words. He had made up his mind a long time ago and there was no going back. Even if he wanted to, it was too late for that. But that was okay.

The man next to him lowered the torch, holding it to the big pile of twigs and sticks underneath Jisung’s feet until the first one lit up.

‘’Do you have any last words, _witch_,’’ The man asked, eyes narrowed in disgust.

Jisung didn’t have any. Not for him, at least.

What was he even going to say that would change anything? To be fair, he could accept the deal and save his own ass, but that was completely out of the question. Plus, he was sure they would never hold up their end of the deal. Playing it fair was something they never did, so why would they now?

It wasn’t an option.

Even more so when he let his eyes wander into the crowd gathered at the open square. There were eight other figures standing all the way back, colourful cloaks with intricate patterns covering their bodies.

From his place on the makeshift podium, he could see their faces clearly. Even though he had told them to stay away, they apparently had still showed up. Jisung wanted to be angry about that, especially when he saw the tears in their eyes, but he could never be. He could never be angry at his own family he had slowly built over the years.

If he remembered correctly, it had all started five years ago when Jisung found himself driven from his home. They had invaded the hidden village, slaughtering everyone in sight. It had only been because of his mother’s powers that Jisung had managed to escape death.

But that had come at the expense of everyone else he loved. 

In just a few seconds, his life had gone from great to disastrous, an ugly blob of red and the sound of metal piercing flesh now staining his past.

Weeks had gone by before he had been on the verge of just giving up. It had been when he had already lit his improvised house – a crappy shed, really – on fire that the first guy had shown up. 

He had just suddenly appeared next to Jisung’s bed, eyes as green as endless fields of newly sprouted grass. Jisung had been completely enamoured by the boy’s eyes. So much so that he hadn’t even noticed he had been dragged out of his bed and outside until the sound of wood collapsing could be heard.

Jisung had been furious, so incredibly angry at the guy for meddling with his business. He had screamed and cried and hit the guy over and over again, not stopping when the guy had wrapped his arms around him and whispered words in a language Jisung didn’t understand. 

Apparently he had passed out because when he opened his eyes again, he was in a house he didn’t recognize. Before Jisung had even had a chance to get the hell out of there, the guy had brought him food and had promised Jisung he didn’t have to be alone anymore.

Minho.

Jisung learned his name was Minho and that they were the same. And so, Jisung had stayed.

Jeongin and Felix had joined them a few months later after he and Minho had found flyers with the boy’s faces spread all around the nearest town. 

_’’Accused of witchcraft’’_ the pieces of paper had said.

It had taken days of secret back-alley meetups with shady figures and a ton of their hard-stolen money to find the two. Apparently, they were brothers who had been orphans, fending for themselves in the world. They had slipped up one day when Felix had tried to use black magic to track their parents and witnesses hadn’t hesitated to sell them out.

So one had become four and Jisung slowly started to feel more alive again.

He got pulled out of his thoughts as a wave of uncomfortable heath hit the skin on his feet and he snapped his head down. The twigs were now properly on fire and it inched closer to him slowly. Jisung didn’t know if that was a curse or a blessing.

Stupidly enough, he automatically looked back at the figures at the back, making eye-contact with Woojin.

Woojin was the oldest of the bunch and him and Hyunjin had actually sought out Jisung and the rest by themselves. How he had gotten wind of their little group of misfits, Jisung had never been told. Minho seemed to know but even being his significant other wasn’t enough of a status for Jisung to acquire that information.

Jisung hated to admit it but deep down, he knew that everything had started to crumble when they had stupidly decided to break Chan out of prison. It had been Minho’s idea after one day, Hyunjin had seen the guards building a stake in front of the castle.

Their first slip-up had happened when Felix had almost been killed. That had forced them to change their plans and the whole thing had been messy. To be fair, they had gotten Chan out and had gotten away with it. However, Jisung hadn’t payed enough attention and the guards had seen his face.

They had laid low for a while after that. Just until they had forgotten his face and that they were looking for him.

Seungmin had shown up a year later, creeping around their house in the middle of the night. Jisung hadn’t even noticed the boy’s energy around but Minho had, softly but urgently poking Jisung’s cheek to wake him up before pulling his arm away from where it had rested on Jisung’s waist.

Jisung had been shoved under the bed, crying as Minho made him promise to stay there and never come out of hiding. Then the older boy had slipped out of the room to confront the intruder.

Turned out that Seungmin was just looking for a place to stay after he had accidentally teleported to the other side of the country. 

Very anti-climactic but Jisung was relieved they would all still be alive to see another day.

By now, the flames had spread all around him and he hissed as he could feel them licking at his back. It hurt but not as much as seeing Changbin clinging onto Chan, his face ghostly pale and his eyes a fiery red. 

At first, Jisung had felt incredibly intimidated by Changbin. Especially because he had actually fought the guy after stumbling upon him in an alley one night.

Jisung and Chan had been wandering around all day, gathering supplies when the boy had just shown up. Chan had crumbled to the ground after making eye-contact with the guy. There had been a fight – one Jisung had almost lost if it hadn’t been for the way he could slow down time – before he had figured that Changbin was just as afraid as they were.  
In hindsight, Jisung had used a bit too much force to knock the guy out but there had been no permanent damage.

It took a while but after a week or two, Changbin opened up and turned from a scary guy into the most clingy person Jisung knew. 

Life had been great.

Until a new unit of guards had been sent to search the woods behind the hill.

They had been eating dinner, playful bickering going around and Minho stealing a few kisses from Jisung every now and then before their door had been knocked down. 

Everything had happened incredibly fast after that. 

There had been screams and blood and pure panic. 

Felix and Hyunjin had been dancing around the room and fighting three guards, Seungmin had been murmuring spells in a corner with Changbin fighting off anyone who tried to reach them, Jeongin had been struggling to get out of a guard’s grasp, Chan had been dragging a half-unconscious Woojin around in an attempt to evade the guards and Minho…

Minho had been struck down by a guard, falling to the ground right in front of Jisung’s eyes.

That’s when everything stopped.

Everything had suddenly fell silent and the guards seemed to be frozen in place.

Everyone had been surprised but not enough to pay too much attention. To be fair, Jisung hadn’t either. Not with Minho bleeding out in front of him.

Jeongin had managed to somehow patch him up but the boy had lost consciousness somewhere along the way, even with Jisung tearfully begging the older to stay with him. The headache had struck soon after that and Jisung caught sight of one of the guards moving ever so slightly. So that’s when he had ordered everyone out.

They had tried to convince him to go with them but Jisung knew he couldn’t do that. He had to stay and keep time from catching up to them. He had felt the pressure in his head increasing and that he wouldn’t be able to hold on for much longer. Hyunjin had tried to drag him with them, but Jisung had reminded them of their deal.

It hurt.

It had hurt seeing the other’s tear stained faces and their backs as they hurried out.

It had hurt seeing the love of his life disappearing from his side without him being able to say goodbye.

He would be alone once again, but the rest would be safe. They would live on to forget about him and bask in the warmth of each other’s presence. And that was enough for Jisung.

He didn’t regret anything.

Jisung tuned back into the present when his eyes started to water from being dried out and the crown cheered.

Monsters.

They were all monsters.

Yet they dared to call _him_ and the others that.

They were such hypocrites that it was almost laughable. 

He had never hurt anyone, no one of them had.

Well, maybe his hands were tainted by the blood of a few individuals but it had always been for self-defence. That’s what they would always tell themselves because they _had_ to. They weren’t going to succumb to the stereotype and they did everything in their power to reject it. They weren’t killers, they weren’t manipulating monsters leaving a trail of death and despair everywhere they went.

Those were made up tales, formed by the fear of the unknown and it was so unfair that it always managed to get him angry and incredibly sad. If only people just tried to understand. If only people made an attempt to get to know them before judging. 

But that was apparently too much to ask.

Technically, the guys would be capable of reaching Jisung and maybe get rid off a few guards but that wasn’t going to happen. They had discussed it many months before and they had reached the consensus that whatever would happen, it was the majority over individuals. 

And there were just too many guards, too many bystanders to get Jisung out of there cleanly. No, there was no way that would work out without giving themselves away.

There was one thing Jisung feared more than death, and that was the loss of his loved ones, _again_.

Suddenly, Jisung saw movement coming from the group at the back. 

Minho had pried Woojin’s hand away from his arm – a precautionary measure, Jisung assumed – and dashed forward, slipping away from the others as they tried to pull him back.  
Jisung could feel his blood run cold in his veins despite the flames lapping at his body. 

Minho was well on his way to him, face set in determination as he harshly pushed people away.

As much as Jisung wanted to scream at him to stop doing what he was planning on doing, his throat seemed to close up on him, making it unable for him to make any sound other than a strained whimper. 

Minho came closer and closer and just when Jisung thought he would stop at a safe distance, Minho just continued. 

Over the sound of the roaring fire, Jisung could faintly hear people yelling and said people screaming soon afterwards. Jisung barely came to the conclusion that Minho had used his powers to get rid of anyone who dared to stand his way when the older crossed the last few meters, stepping onto the stake.

That’s when Jisung really panicked and found his voice.

‘’Minho! What are you doing? Are you crazy?,’’

It was on complete instinct that Jisung froze time again, leaving him and Minho the only ones living in the current time. The heath of the flames was still there, but they had stopped eating away at his clothes and his skin.

Minho just stepped closer in response, not breaking eye-contact and he didn’t stop until he was almost pressed up against the younger. Jisung could feel his eyes well up at the sheer determination and fire in Minho’s eyes and deep down, Jisung understood.

But that he understood what Minho was trying to do didn’t mean he agreed.

‘’M-Minho,’’ Jisung croaked out, the dull ache in his head slowly creeping up on him already, ‘’Leave,’’

The older remained silent and grabbed a hold of Jisung’s face, capturing his lips in a desperate kiss.

And as much as Jisung wanted to scream at him – much like he had done when they had first met – he couldn’t. Minho was always able to make Jisung lose focus of the situation at hand, drowning him in everything the older was and wasn’t, wrapping him up in a blanket of comfort and trust and _love_.

Jisung winced at the sharp pain shooting through his skull and Minho pulled back, planting soft little kisses on his cheeks, moving up his temple and to his forehead. The pain lost it’s edge for a bit and Jisung took a deep breath before looking back at Minho.

‘’No,’’ Minho replied, his hands tightly gripping Jisung’s hips, ‘’I’m not going to watch you die and leave me behind,’’

Jisung could feel the sob creeping it’s way up from his chest and out of his mouth as he leaned his head against Minho’s chest, ‘’P-please, don’t do this,’’

The older moved his hand up and cupped Jisung’s cheek, guiding the boy’s head up to look him in the eye.

‘’I don’t want to wake up in the morning and not finding you in my arms. I can’t to go about my day pretending you never existed. I don’t want to be stuck at dinner only to get reminded of the way you stuff your cheeks with food before properly chewing. I won’t be able to listen to people singing because it will forever remind me of the tune you hum whenever you are in a good mood,'' Minho stated, his eyes just full of pure adoration and love as he looked at Jisung, ''I don’t want to keep running if you’re not going to be next to me to make it worth it,’’

Oh how Jisung wished his hands weren’t tied behind the pole. He so desperately wanted to wrap himself around Minho, holding him for eternity.

And then, it felt like a sledgehammer cracked his skull open and the flames were roaring again, this time even more vicious as it ate away at Minho’s emerald-green cape.

Minho leaned forward again, kissing Jisung ever so softly like he always did before pulling back and whipping the tears off of Jisung’s face with his thumbs.

The older didn’t even seem to be in pain and actually gave Jisung a little lob-sided smile, eyes not watering as well.

Minho leaned his forehead against Jisung’s, fingers digging into the younger's arms as he pulled himself closer. 

And over the sound of their clothes burning, Jisung caught the little whisper from Minho.

‘’I’d rather burn,’’

**Author's Note:**

> Did this lowkey give away my view on society nowadays?   
Yes.  
Am I going into detail about that?  
No.


End file.
